MANILA, Philippines - GrabCar and Uber are the top car-booking apps in the Philipines, particularly in Metro Manila. But do you know what their differences are? In this article, we will compare these two leading transportation technology apps.

GrabTaxi is known as MyTeksi in Malaysia, where it originally started. Other services of GrabTaxi are: GrabCar, GrabCar+ (Premium) and GrabExpress.

In this article, we will just tackle about GrabCar being compared to Uber since both have similar business model.

GrabCar is another service owned by GrabTaxi that uses private vehicles instead of the usual taxi cabs. Just like UberX, GrabCar uses sedans while GrabCar+ (Premium) is similar to UberBlack.

Pricing

Okay, so we now know the types of vehicles they offer. Let's head to their pricing.

GrabCar Standard Rate:
Base Fare = PHP 40.00
Per KM = PHP 15.00

GrabCar+ (Premium) Standard Rate:
Base Fare = PHP 90.00
Per KM = PHP 20.00

They also have rush hours rates which can go from 1.5 to twice the standard rate.

UberX Standard Rate:
Base Fare = PHP 40.00
Per Minute = PHP 2.00
Per KM = PHP 5.70

UberBlack Standard Rate:
Base Fare = PHP 90.00
Per Minute = PHP 2.10
Per KM = PHP 12.92

They also have rush hours rates, or known as surge price, which can go from 1.3 to 4.0 times the standard rate! (That's a lot)

GrabCar has fixed rates. Meaning, the moment you start booking, it will calculate the distance and give you a fix price. Take note, unlike taxi cabs if you are stuck in traffic, the metering system switches to per minute. But in GrabCar it doesn't. So if the price shown upon booking is 90 pesos, no matter how long you stay in the car due to traffic, the price remains 90 pesos.

Uber charges per minute so if upon booking the estimated cost is 90 pesos, and you are stuck in traffic, it will charge you more due to the per minute rate.

*Tip: Yes, GrabCar charges more compared to Uber but it will be an advantage for you during rush hours since they do not charge per minute.

We give GrabCar 1 point, Uber 1 point.

Drivers

Okay, I know numbers are dingling in your head now so let's move on to the service itself.

We've been using Uber for quite some time now and all we can say is hands down to Uber drivers. They treat you with respect, open doors for you, greets you politely with a "Good morning Ma'am/Sir", offer you candies and their cars are well maintained.

During our GrabCar experience, we notice that most drivers are so stiff. No greetings, no candies, no opening of doors for us, though cars are well maintained as well.

We give GrabCar 0 point, Uber 1 point.

Rating System

Rating system. Uber requires drivers as well as riders to rate each other. Upon booking, you can immediately see the rating of your driver. If we are not mistaken, a driver with a 4.3 rating and below will be automatically kicked out of the system. We are not sure about riders though.

As a rider, you cannot see you rating but you do can request for your rating by going at https://help.uber.com and type "I'D LIKE TO KNOW MY RATING" on the text box. An email will be sent to you.

As for Grab, we are sure that you can rate you driver but we are unsure if they could rate you as well and if there is a minimum rating. But all we know is that both services offers "mutual respect".

We give GrabCar 1 point, Uber 1 point.

Mobile Data Consumption

So you want to book a ride but your mobile data signal is too weak? Then this will be big trouble, right? Need not to worry because we've tested it as well! When we booked a ride where our mobile data signal is so weak, the only app that opened was Uber. Our GrabCar application just hangs and we weren't able to book using it.

It is because Uber application uses less resources than Grab that's why even if your mobile data's signal is weak, you are still able to use it.

We give GrabCar 0 point, Uber 1 point.

Booking A Ride

Now onto booking a ride.
When booking using Uber, you can change your pick up location by dragging the pin / marker along the map or just enter your desired location. Destination is optional. But if you want to know the estimated cost, you may want to enter it.

GrabCar requires riders to enter their location and destination first before booking a ride. You cannot book unless you enter your pick up location and destination.

Now, the problem with Grab is that setting your pick up location is via inputting your exact location. But sometimes, the map integrated in the app does not give accurate results. With that, there is a 90% chance of accuracy. While in Uber, since you can position a marker anywhere on the map, this enables the driver to pin-point where exactly you are.

We've experience a lot of difficulties wherein our driver had a hard time finding us on the map using Grab since he is unable to locate where exactly we are since they are just basing it on the address given by the application in which sometimes the marker is not exactly where you are.

This caused us a lot of time wasted.

We give GrabCar 0 point, Uber 1 point.

Real Time Location

We know that everyone wants to have a safe ride, right? So what do we do? We inform our family and friends of our location, name of driver and plate number of the car we rode.

Just hit screenshot, send via email or Facebook. The usual thing, right? But what if we want to know their EXACT, REAL TIME location? It is possible!

They have this integrated map with real time GPS and even shows you information such as the Booking ID, time booked, pick up location, destination, name of passenger, name of driver, plate number of vehicle. How cool is that?? You can now track your loved ones in real time whenever they book so you know where they are at that exact moment!

We give GrabCar 1 point, Uber 1 point.

Promotions

With Uber, you may refer a friend by giving them your customized promo code. With that, both parties will receive 200 pesos worth of credits. Note that promo credits change from time to time. You may only use 1 promo code referral but you can send as many as you want. So it all goes by referral.

The past few days GrabCar had a free 100 peso credits for the entire week. And since our ride doesn't even cost a hundred, we got a free ride the entire week! 

GrabCar wins here because every week, Grab gives away different promos for riders to choose from. All they need to do is enter the promo code before booking a ride.

We give GrabCar 1 point, Uber 0 point.

Payment

In order to use Uber, one must have a credit card as this is primary mode of payment. And since it is a cashless payment, you don't need to pay your driver in cash. And for sure, you know you are paying them the exact amount. No kontrata in short.

As for Grab, you pay in cash. It would be a little hassle since you need to get money from your wallet and there is a tendency that the driver won't have a change for your payment.

Both have their pros and cons with regards to payment. We all know that getting a credit card these days is pretty hard since most of us gets rejected upon application with no justifiable reason. Heck, they won't even tell you why your credit card application was rejected!

So for those who do not have a credit card, GrabCar would be your best option.

We give GrabCar 1 point, Uber 1 point.

Total ratings:
Grab = 5
Uber = 7

This is our personal rating between the two and some of you might prefer the later. It is up to you which suits you better.

Be both love Grab and Uber since both have their own uniqueness. It all depends on you preferences.

Enjoy your booking with Grab and Uber!